To Hell and Back
by StudentofDust
Summary: It's Ponyville's annual Storm Day, and Rainbow Dash worked so hard to get everything ready for this day. Unfortunately for her, she forgot the most important thing of all, and that could cost her- and the one she loves most- everything... Two-shot, Flutterdash. Rated to be safe, though it might change with the second part.


**Part one of two.**

Grey clouds floated lazily in the sky, bringing word that rain was coming, but not really any time soon. Nevertheless, the woods animals began to see the sign for what it was – they were used to these signs, having lived outdoors their entire lives – and they began to make preparations for precipitation.

High above them, Rainbow Dash flew, putting the clouds in their respective places. She was flying at an uncharacteristically slow pace, though that was because the rain wasn't supposed to come until the next day, and thus she wasn't really in much of any hurry.

As she flew, she saw a clearing up ahead. It looked very inviting to her, as she was ready for her mid-day nap, so she flew down to check it out.

"Ah!" she exclaimed as she got closer. She had spotted Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy lazing around in that very clearing. Twilight had her nose in some book that she had gotten a few days prior from Princess Celestia, while Fluttershy was chatting animatedly with a pair of bluebirds.

Rainbow flew lower, preparing to land. As she flew, the breeze picked up and the bluebirds flew away.

"Bye-bye!" Fluttershy called out. "Come back and visit me soon! Don't forget to get ready!"

Twilight glanced up and smiled. "She's so cute," she thought, "talking to the animals. It's really her special talent…"

Her thoughts were interrupted by Rainbow's cry from the sky: "Incoming!"

Dash landed with a soft thud beside Fluttershy. Raising herself up on her haunches, she fluffed off a bit of dirt that had puffed up on her upon landing. She looked at Twilight and smiled; at Fluttershy, she afforded a more tender smile.

"Hey there, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said with a smile. "We were looking for you earlier to see if you wanted to go apple-picking with us."

Rainbow grinned sheepishly. "Hehe… sorry about that. I was really busy." Seeing the skeptical expression on Twilight's face, she hastily continued: "No, seriously, I was! Tomorrow is Storm Day, and I have to get all the clouds to their right places so this year's storm isn't late… like it has been the past few years…"

This elicited a look of surprise and shock from Twilight. "Oh… Is it really Storm Day already? I had no idea it's already been a whole year since the last one…"

"Oh yes," replied Fluttershy. "In fact, I was just telling those bluebirds about it. Did you not hear me?"

"Not at all… I've been absorbed in this new spellbook that I got from Princess Celestia…"

"Well regardless, it's tomorrow," Dash said. "I really do need to get back to work, but…" She yawned. "I'm just so tired…"

Fluttershy made a noise of concern. "You haven't had your mid-day nap yet, have you?"

Rainbow shook her head. "I've been too busy getting everything ready for Storm Day and, well, it's really wore me out…"

Just then, a rustle was heard in a nearby tree. They all looked up, just as a familiar purple face poked out at them.

"Oh hey, Spike," Twilight called out. "What are you doing all the way up there?"

"Do I have to have a reason to climb a tree?" Spike asked in reply. He scurried down to join them.

"I guess not," Twilight finally answered with a smile when Spike joined them.

"Exactly!" Spike said with a grin. He was about to go on, when he felt a familiar feeling in the pit of his stomach. The letter from Princess Celestia appeared before them as it normally did.

"A message from Princess Celestia…?" Twilight murmured aloud as she floated the scroll up to her so she could read it. "I wasn't expecting one…"

"Do you ever?" retorted Spike. "Just read it and see what it says!"

Twilight opened the letter and read it aloud: "_To my dearest student, Twilight Sparkle: As you undoubtedly do not remember, being preoccupied with your studies and all, tomorrow is Storm Day. I request your help with travelling to the surrounding areas and reminding everypony else about the Day. Be ready soon; I will be arriving there ten minutes after I have seen you have read this letter. Your teacher, Princess Celestia_."

"So you gotta leave?" asked Rainbow Dash. "That kinda sucks…"

"I have to do this, though," Twilight replied. "Princess Celestia is trusting me."

"Um…" Fluttershy interjected timidly, raising a hoof to gain a bit of extra recognition, "if it's okay with you, Rainbow Dash, seeing as I'm a flyer just like you… Maybe I can go up with you and help you with getting all the storm clouds in their right places…"

Rainbow Dash smiled. "That sounds like a great idea, Fluttershy. Two ponies can get it done faster than one pony ever could!"

"Well then, it's settled," Twilight said with a smile. Just then, they all heard a very familiar sound. A moment later, Princess Celestia's chariot came into view, and as it landed, the three ponies bowed deeply, as they customarily did.

"Hello, you three," Celestia said with her typical kindly smile. "Twilight, are you ready?"

Twilight nodded.

"Very good." Celestia turned to Rainbow Dash. "I see Storm Day preparations are coming along nicely. Make sure it's all finished so the rains can come on time this year."

"Oh, I will!" She looked up at Celestia. "In fact, Fluttershy is going to help me out!"

Fluttershy nodded, though she still stayed bowed down low. She respected Celestia far too much to break royal protocol like that.

"I'm proud of you, Fluttershy," Celestia said with a smile. "Taking something new like weather-making is quite commendable."

Celestia and Twilight got up on the royal chariot and it began to fly away. Twilight waved goodbye to her friends as she slowly rose out of sight.

Rainbow stood and stretched her stiff joints. Sensing her friend's movement, Fluttershy did the same.

"So," Rainbow said with a grin, "are you ready to experience the life of a weatherpony?"

"I kind of already did. You know, Winter Wrap-Up…"

"That's totally different, Fluttershy. Cleaning up the after-effects of weather is a whole 'nother story when compared to making the weather to begin with. Lucky for you, though, you have the best weatherpony in all of Equestria as your guide! Plus, all we'll be doing is moving the clouds to their respective places. The cloud factory on Cloudsdale is where they're actually made. We're just gonna escort them back to Ponyville."

"Oh…" Fluttershy replied. "That doesn't sound too hard."

"It's not, really. It's mostly the constant flying that wears me out. But you shouldn't have a problem with that, should you, Miss 460 Percent Improvement?"

Fluttershy had no idea what on earth Rainbow Dash was talking about, and her face showed it.

Dash smiled. "Remember when we had to get the tornado ready? You trained so hard, and your wing power went up from 0.5 to 2.3 so quickly. I was really impressed."

She blushed. "Oh come on now, you're just saying that…"

"I mean it, Fluttershy. That was a 460 percent improvement. No one else even came close to improving themselves that much. All of us were really proud of you- even Rarity, and you know how fickle she can be."

Fluttershy didn't know what to say, so she just stayed quiet and smiled.

Rainbow laughed. "Come on, Fluttershy; let's get going!"

* * *

A few minutes later, they landed on Cloudsdale. Fluttershy laughed softly, though not softly enough for Rainbow Dash not to hear it.

"What's so funny?" she asked curiously.

"I was just thinking…" Fluttershy replied quietly, "some of my most cherished moments have happened here… The first time I ever cheered so loudly, the first time I ever saw a Sonic Rainboom in person…" Her next statement was so quiet, Rainbow could only barely make it out: "It was even the first time I fell in love…"

Rainbow Dash stopped suddenly. "No way… Who was it?"

Fluttershy blushed a deep crimson. She had almost hoped Rainbow hadn't heard that. "I don't wanna say… It was someone who was in the Young Flyers Competition, though."

"No way," Dash repeated as they started walking towards the cloud factory again. "Do they know how you feel?"

"No… I haven't had the courage to tell them."

"Well, I'll tell you what then, Fluttershy: after this Storm Day is over, I'll help you confess your feelings, ok?"

Fluttershy smiled. "Thank you, Rainbow Dash. You're such a very special friend." She rested her head briefly on Rainbow's flank, before smiling and flying towards the factory, where Rainbowshine had seen them and was gesturing wildly for them to come over.

Rainbow Dash stood shocked. Fluttershy had never done that before… Could she be the one that Fluttershy had fallen in love with? Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Dash flew off after her.

* * *

It took them about three hours to get all the storm clouds back to Ponyville, and another hour after that to get them all put into their right places. When they were done, they flew down to the clearing they'd been in earlier and lay down beside each other on the grass.

Rainbow exhaled deeply. "Next year… I am not procrastinating for as long as I did this year…"

Fluttershy was still trying to catch her breath. "I've never… worked that hard… in my life…"

Rainbow smiled. "I've worked harder… though not in a very long time."

Suddenly, Fluttershy stood up, shaking off her wings. Rainbow looked at her oddly. "You know… you could just lay here next to me for awhile…"

Fluttershy looked at her sympathetically. "Oh, no… As appealing as that sounds, I really can't. See, I never finished telling all my animal friends to start preparing for Storm Day. It starts tomorrow, you know, and if some of them can't prepare because I didn't tell them… Oh, I just don't know what I would do…"

Rainbow just looked at Fluttershy in amazement. She never failed to impress her, she was so compassionate and loving…

"Okay," Dash finally said. "Go tell all the animals, and we'll meet up later. I have to go set the timer on the clouds so they won't start storming too early."

"Ooh yeah, that does sound like it's important. If you wouldn't mind… I'd like you to show me how that's done someday."

"Sure!" Dash smiled. "I'd love to."

Fluttershy smiled her normal radiant smile, then flew off into the forest.

Rainbow Dash sat up. Just then, she sensed that someone was behind her. She figured it was just Fluttershy, so she didn't even look back before saying, "What happened, did you forget something? Better get it quickly, Fluttershy; you've got a very important job to do."

"Ooh!" said a different voice. "And just what would that be?"

Startled, Rainbow turned to see who was standing behind her, as the voice told her it most certainly was not Fluttershy.

"What on earth…? How did you get behind me? I didn't even hear you come up…"

Pinkie Pie stood grinning behind her. "I walked, silly. It's how I always get around."

"Well never mind that…" Dash stood up, stretching her legs. "And to answer your question, Fluttershy went off to talk to the animals and let them all know about Storm Day tomorrow."

"Oh cool… Wait, is it Storm Day already? You know what that means, right? We have to have our annual Storm Day party tonight!"

Rainbow Dash grinned. For the past few years, Pinkie had thrown an awesome party the day before Storm Day. All of Ponyville got in on the festivities: the Cake family did the catering, the music was provided by Vinyl Scratch – or, as her stage name proclaimed herself to be, DJ Pon-3.

It was all a grand affair, indeed.

"I'm down," Dash replied. "We need to get everyone down to the party spot." Vinyl hosted the party at her house every year; it was much easier for her to do that, then have to lug all her equipment around like she normally had to do when playing a gig.

Pinkie smiled widely. "What are we standing around for, then? Let's go!" Pinkie bounded off in the direction of Ponyville, and Rainbow Dash flew off after her.

Above them, the storm clouds brewed, unchecked by Rainbow Dash's usually-diligent programming.

* * *

Later that night, the party was going strong. Everyone easily fit into Vinyl's house, thanks to a spell put on the house by Princess Celestia years earlier, that made the inside much larger than what the outside appeared to be able to hold.

Pinkie walked up to Rainbow Dash and Applejack, who were standing by one of the walls and drinking apple cider –provided by Sweet Apple Acres, of course.

"So how's the party?" Pinkie asked animatedly, even more so than usual. This was more due to necessity than anything else, as Vinyl's driving dubstep beats made it impossible for normal inside-voice conversation to be heard.

"Very nice!" Applejack replied. "You always put on the best parties."

Pinkie grinned. "I aim to please. Here, let me get you two some cupcakes!" She bounded off towards the catering table.

Just then, the door opened, then shut again rapidly. A wet form made her way to where the two friends were talking. Rainbow Dash noticed her first.

"What…? Rarity?!"

Rarity shook some excess water off her coat. "Oh, Rainbow Dash… I thought Storm Day wasn't supposed to be until tomorrow…"

"It isn't," Dash replied. "Why are you all wet?"

"Why do you think?" Rarity snapped. "The storm came early!"

All the color drained from Dash's face. "No… That can't be… None of my storms have ever started early…"

"There's a first time for everything, I guess," commented Applejack.

A flash of insight came to Dash's mind, and she took to the air, looking around at all the party guests. A moment later, she slowly floated herself back to the ground, and those looking at her could see that she had tears streaming down her face now.

"What is it?" Rarity asked. "What's wrong?"

Dash's response was almost inaudible: "It's Fluttershy… She's still out there."

**Part two coming soon.**


End file.
